Moana - Warrior's Journey (AU after the first film)

Chapter 2: Maui's Conflict

It has been almost two months since Te Fiti's heart was restored. After being separated, Maui managed to find Motunui immediately after Moana came back after her first voyage after their mission, but he didn't have guts to go and talk to her. He had weird feelings lately about Moana. To watch over Moana, things he transformed into include a seagull, a dolphin, and beetles. He didn't transform into a hawk and shark so that Moana wouldn't notice him in the far off distance when he is watching over her. In his new and unusual transformation, he watched Moana living her lifestyle normally. All the time he watched over her, only thing he was able to say was, "Well, she seems very happy. She's living her life well. If I can just go towards her..." He transformed into a small fish and swam towards the shore, but then he immediately chickened out and drifted far away from the shore. He panted heavily and said, "Oh, what's wrong with me? Why can't I just go to her? I won't know until I walk up to her and speak to her. Maybe I should!" He turned to the shore, but the immediately turned his back again. "Uh, no. I don't think I treated her well. What if she doesn't really miss me because of the way I threw her off the boat, discouraged and underestimated her a lot of times, and insulted her that ocean chose the wrong person? I shouldn't have done that."

Mini Maui pounded to get his attention. "What is it, buddy?" He pantomimed of being confident. "I know, I know. But I just can't be!" Mini Maui hugged Maui. "Aw, thanks, buddy. I think... I'm just not as strong as I thought I was! If I only get a chance to see her once... without her noticing me." Mini Maui transformed into a small beetle. "Well, if I do that, she won't notice. It's worth trying." Maui grabbed his fishhook, took a deep breath, and exclaimed, "CHA-HOO!" and turned himself into a little beetle. He flew around Motunui and searched for Moana.

He searched for minutes. "Where is she?" He said to himself as he continued to fly around, until he heard a familiar voice from a distance.

"Gotta catch some fish! Bye! Love you!" He noticed Moana hugging her parents tightly before she ran off to the shore. Maui flew cautiously after her so she wouldn't notice a beetle that would be smart enough to follow her everywhere she goes. He saw Moana run to the shore, smiling in the beginning, but her smile long disappeared. Is she... Is she okay? He thought as he watched Moana run to her boat. As she sailed off to the ocean, he quietly transformed into a tiny fish and secretly watched Moana throw her fishnet into the ocean. Maui slowly swam up to her boat so she wouldn't notice. Then she looked very sad as she stared at the ocean surface. I wonder what's wrong with her. Is she really not happy? If she isn't, what's making her unhappy? I really need to know why. Is the village still in trouble? Then he flinched as Moana screamed and slapped the ocean, "Uggh, that's not what I need right now!" She leaned back for a moment, and looked at the ocean back again. Maui noticed tear drops falling out from her eyes. Then she cried to herself and yelled about she needs to try getting over with Maui because he's a demigod while she is a mortal. Oh, that's how she feels about me. Maybe I can get back to her. She does miss me a lot, Maui thought. He also saw the ocean trying to comfort her. He started to feel a little bad not walking up to her to meet her again. Maybe later, I'll go up to her. I'll have guts to go face her. Moana, just wait. You won't be crying about this anymore. After crying for some time, she tried to pull the net up. Maui quickly and silently transformed into his normal form and pushed up the net with his fishhook so that it is easier for Moana to pull up the net.

As she sailed away, Maui became more desperate to see her up close. So he transformed into a seagull and flew along with the other seagulls that happened to fly by her side. Oh, she's so beautiful. Maui thought as he glanced at her while he was flying along the other seagulls. When the seagulls switched directions, he flew along with them, just in case if she notices.

After landing on a tree branch, he transformed into his normal form, slid down the tree, and hid behind the bushes. He wanted to surprise her. He waited as he picked some berries to eat. Even demigod needs to eat something to survive. He quickly picked a coconut, and cracked it open to drink the water from inside. While he was waiting, he felt a little drowsy and he nodded a little. Then he heard a footstep near him. He peeked over through the opening of the bush and saw Moana. He wanted to scare her, but Pua walked up to her and then she sobbed as she hugged him tightly. "No, not a good time," he sighed softly. Mini Maui made a comforting gesture. "Thanks, buddy," Maui tapped Mini Maui gently.

"That made me feel a lot better now. Now come along, Pua. I'll get you something to eat." Moana said to Pua. maui watched her walking away. He quickly transformed into a beetle and followed her. When she went to her cottage, she got another fish for dinner and ate that more happily than ever before.

"That's right, Moana," Maui said as he watched her from a short tree, still in beetle form, "your smile is the best thing in the world."

The night fell and the stars were bright. By the time, he transformed into an owl. As he looked at the stars, it kept reminding him of the time when he taught Moana how to look at the sky. He couldn't forget the time when he said, 'You are tracking the star, not giving a sky a high five.' He laughed at the flashback. In an owl form, he saw Moana drifting into sleep. "Sleep well, Moana."  He suddenly remembered him calling her a princess and she denied it, saying that she is only the daughter of the village chief. "You may say that you are not a princess, even though you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick, but to me, you are my princess." He didn't feel like sleeping when he transformed into an animal. He slept better in a human form. Plus, it would be weird if an owl sleeps at night. He flew and picked up the old cloth, turned it into a hammock, transformed into normal form, lied on the cloth, and peeked over at Moana's cottage for a last time. "Well, then, good night, princess. You'll be surprised tomorrow when you see me... or excited... or angry... maybe all... I don't know. I'll deal with it tomorrow." He gazed upon the stars. The stars were bright like Moana's sparkling eyes. "We'll both be excited to see each other. She missed me after all. What bad things can happen?" He said as if he was talking to the stars. He stopped worrying. It seemed like she stopped worrying too. He peacefully fell asleep under the starry night.